


And if I’m dead to you (why are you at the wake?)

by Kail_lizuc



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: (actually he dies a lot but always comes back), Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, IM NOT EVEN KIDDING, Immortal Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Immortal technoblade, Immortality, Phil just goes around adopting kids, Reunions, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Song: my tears ricochet (Taylor Swift), Techno comes back to life, Technoblade is Bad at Feelings (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Temporary Character Death, Title from a Taylor Swift Song, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, Winged Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), and a lot of backstory, and its not graphic just mentioned, but I wrote anyways, but techno refuses to see it like that, character talking things out, i totally blame The Channel Without A Name's Theseus animatic for this, immortal phil too, so are phil and techno, techno and dream are best friends, technoblade never dies, the Technoblade backstory nobody asked for, theres a LOT of backstory here, what else should i tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29418537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kail_lizuc/pseuds/Kail_lizuc
Summary: “Wait, hold on! Wait a second!” the guy called, somehow managing to grab onto Techno’s right arm. Wilbur opened his mouth to tell the guy to fuck off, because clearly his brother did not want to deal with him, but he was interrupted before he got the chance. “It’s you, isn’t it, Theseus?”Instead of growling and yanking his arm free like Wilbur expected him to do, Techno froze completely, which was apparently confirmation enough for the guy.Or, in which Techno and Dream are both hurting idiots meeting again after millenia, Wilbur is confused, Tommy is in awe, and Phil is a good (dad) friend.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 24
Kudos: 478





	And if I’m dead to you (why are you at the wake?)

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on The Channel Without A Name's Theseus animatic, go check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4iZnGp1_Q&ab_channel=TheChannelWithoutAName

Wilbur looked around them at the various stalls around town as they made their way in between the crowd. Tommy and he (with Phil’s help) had _finally_ convinced Technoblade to go out with them that day, and the child sure was taking full advantage of it. He almost felt sorry that Techno had to deal with Tommy’s undivided attention for any amount of time. Almost.

 _Better him than me,_ he thought, ignoring Techno’s mild glare with practiced ease.

He spared a glanced in Tommy’s direction, mostly out of habit to make sure the child hadn’t taken off on his own again, and consequently crashed into somebody. A simple apology rolled off his tongue automatically and he was about to keep walking when he noticed the guy was frozen in place, not even looking in Wilbur’s direction.

“Theseus…?”

Techno tensed suddenly, jaw clenched tight as he grabbed Tommy’s arm, the closest to him, and started moving forwards without as much as a glance in the guy’s direction.

“Keep walkin’,” the older hissed, and Wilbur looked at him strangely as he hurried to follow. Tommy was sputtering, trying to free himself, but one glare from Techno had the teen snapping his mouth shut, just letting himself be guided.

“Wait, hold on! Wait a second!” the guy called, somehow managing to grab onto Techno’s right arm. Wilbur opened his mouth to tell the guy to fuck off, because clearly his brother did not want to deal with him, but he was interrupted before he got the chance. “It’s you, isn’t it, Theseus?”

Instead of growling and yanking his arm free like Wilbur expected him to do, Techno froze completely, which was apparently confirmation enough for the guy.

“Oh, Ender, it really _is_ you,” the guy whispered, as if he couldn’t quite believe himself. Wilbur used that moment to properly look at him, noticing the weird smiley mask he was wearing, along with the green and black clothes and the axe on his back. This guy screamed danger in the same way Techno did, and that immediately put him on edge.

Techno sighed, letting go of Tommy, who was thankfully silent for once, in favor of running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t go by that name anymore,” he finally said, and Wilbur frowned. As far as he knew, Technoblade had always been Technoblade… but then again, Wilbur had been a fourteen year old brat when he’d first met him and Phil, and in reality he knew next to nothing about them. For all he knew, Techno could be called, what was it the guy said…? Theseus? He could be called that and Wilbur would’ve been none the wiser. “As I’m sure you don’t go by yours either.”

The guy chuckled a bit awkwardly, finally letting go Techno’s arm and resting a hand on his hip. “You’re right, my bad. What do I call you, then?”

“Technoblade.”

“Technoblade,” the guy repeated. “It’s a good name. It suits you.”

Wilbur’s brother shifted, and he just knew he was raising an eyebrow under the boar skull. “I would hope so.”

The man laughed, a sort of wheezing laugh that sounded painful but didn’t seem to bother him. Out of the corner of his eye, Wilbur noticed how Techno seemed to relax minutely at the sound and raised an eyebrow. Techno ignored him.

“And what do _we_ call _you,_ huh, green man?” Tommy asked boldly, and Wilbur was surprised he lasted this long without doing something stupid, like, say, call the clearly dangerous man in front of them _green man._

The man turned to them as if just noticing Techno had company and then chuckled. “I’m Dream,” he said, waving a hand.

Wilbur stared wide eyed as something in his mind clicked and by his side, Tommy started spluttering.

“D-Dream?! As in _the_ Dream, leader of the Dream Team?!”

Techno hummed, not at all fazed by this information apparently (and remarkably calm too, Wilbur noted offhandedly. He would have thought Techno would be _at least_ a little bit excited about meeting the famous hunter). “I should’ve known that was you. Only you would wear such a stupid mask.”

“Oh, okay, Mr. Boar Skull.”

“Touché.”

Dream _—the Dream,_ Wilbur wasn’t over that fact yet, even if it seemed like the conversation had already moved on— snorted. “We should probably move somewhere else now though,” he said. “We seem to be gathering a bit of a crowd.”

Wilbur looked around and indeed, there were a bunch of people staring at them now. Probably since Tommy basically announced to the entire town that Dream was there. He winced.

“Right,” Techno said, glancing around with a grimace. “Phil’s cabin's not too far from here, just outside of town. You comin’, blob?”

“Sure, I’ve got some time,” Dream nodded, gesturing with his hand. “Lead the way, pinkie.”

Absentmindedly, Wilbur followed his brother back to the cabin, all the while wondering what the fuck had just happened. How did Techno know Dream? Why did they banter like old friends? And more importantly…

What the fuck kinda name was _Theseus_ and where had he heard it before?

✿

Techno was quite aware that the walk to the cabin would’ve been considerably more awkward had Tommy and Wilbur not been fans of Dream and his team.

Because while Techno knew Dream since they were just two kids running around the streets of Athens with no care for the world, they also hadn’t seen each since about a few hundred years, probably millennia. And the last time they saw each other…

Well. Techno didn’t like to think of that time.

So he was quite grateful that Tommy and Wilbur kept the conversation going and off of him all the way out of town.

They reached the cabin in almost record time, and after introducing Dream to Phil, who of course immediately noticed the tension between Dream and Techno and ushered the kids outside to give them some space, they sat down in the living room.

Techno pointedly didn’t look at the other, staring instead at the flames dancing in the fireplace. Winter would be starting soon and he could feel the chill in the air already.

The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, all things considered. Tense, yes, but not uncomfortable. But both of them knew they’d have to address the elephant in the room at some point, even if Techno would rather not.

Unsurprisingly, Dream was the first to speak.

“You never came back.”

The air around them felt heavy with the words— they weren’t an accusation, not at all. It was a fact. Even if it’d happened centuries ago, even if Techno had tried to forget everything about it, going as far as to abandon his own name, there was no denying that it happened.

There was no escaping this conversation now.

Eventually, Techno sighed. “I was exiled, Dream. You know this,” he said, voice tired. He didn’t like thinking about those times, back when he was still human and didn’t have countless voices screaming at him twenty-four seven.

“You could’ve gone back after the council died,” the other insisted. “Nobody would’ve recognized you.”

“And why would I have done that, huh?” he said, glaring at Dream. “There was nothin’ for me there.”

“I was there.”

“Well _I_ didn’t know that, did I?” Techno snapped, hearing the voices chanting in response to his anger. He shook his head, pointedly not looking at Dream. He could feel the pity and sadness in his eyes even through the mask and he hated it. “I— I thought you’d died, like everyone else.”

Techno sighed, taking off the skull mask and running a hand down his face. He was tired, oh so tired. Had been for a long time. Just thinking about his past and all the pain and betrayal was exhausting, more so considering he’d been ignoring it all religiously, choosing to believe that if he didn’t think about it then everything would be fine.

“I actually did come back, some decades later,” he admitted softly, not lifting his gaze. “I’d already met Phil by then and he helped me look through the records to— to see if you’d had descendants or something, y’know? But there was nothin’ there.”

Dream nodded, “I erased all my records after I realized I wasn’t aging anymore.”

“Should’ve figured as much. You too were covered in the Minotaur’s blood after all.”

He still remembered killing the beast that had tormented their city-state for so long, being covered head to toes in its blood with Dream by his side as the remaining soldiers stared in awe after he delivered the final blow. He’d never been able to pinpoint when exactly did that awe turn into fear, when had his city stopped considering him a hero and started to call him a monster instead.

He imagined it was when his body started to mutate.

He had died the night of his exile, bleeding out in disgrace just outside of the city, despised by his own people after saving them. The voices had shown up around that time too.

“Did you go lookin’ for me?”

“For a while, yes,” Dream said. “Spent a couple centuries just wandering around, though, visiting places, trying new things. Immortality can get pretty boring, you know?”

Techno nodded. He knew for a fact that if he hadn’t found Philza, last one of a species that couldn’t die of old age, he would have gone crazy with boredom and let the voices take control. He was lucky he’d met Phil when he had, though.

Dream sighed then, taking off his mask to look him in the eyes. Red eyes took in every little part of his friend’s face; the countless freckles, the emerald eyes that seemed just as vibrant as the day they’d met, the scar that went just over his nose that Techno had caused in a duel in their teenage years.

He looked just like he had the last time Techno had seen him. He looked human and young, but his eyes held far more experience than any mortal could ever imagine. Techno understood why Dream wore that mask even if it wasn’t to hide inhuman traits like him. It was easier to hide behind a mask, easier to pretend that he hadn’t been alive to see the foundation of almost every city currently in existence, easier to forget that he’d seen the birth and passing of countless people, none ever living as long as he had, as he would continue to.

With the mask, no matter how inhuman it made him seem, it was easier to hold onto what was left of his humanity.

Dream smiled softly, nostalgic. “I missed you, Techno.”

He returned the smile, “I know. Missed you too.” There was a moment of silence and then Techno blinked. “Oh, this is the part where we hug each other, isn’t it? Emotional reunion after millennia apart and all that, no?”

Dream stared at him deadpan for a moment and then he started laughing, a wheezing sound not unlike a kettle’s that Techno hadn’t realized how much he’d missed until now.

“You— you haven’t… changed… at all…” he said in between laughs, and Techno crossed his arms, pointedly raising an eyebrow.

“You still sound like a wheezin’ kettle, so clearly you haven’t either,” he called back, and ended up starting to laugh too as Dream continued to deflate like a balloon next to him. The man’s laugh _was_ contagious.

Dream sighed, finally getting his breath under control and resting his mask over his face again. He got up, stretching his back. “This was nice, but I should get back before George and Sapnap get too worried.”

Techno raised an eyebrow, standing too. “Your famous Dream Team?”

“Yup!” Dream nodded enthusiastically. “You should meet them sometime, they might not be as good as we are but they’re pretty good. I’ve trained them myself.”

“Oh?” he smirked. “Well I’ve been trainin’ Tommy and Wilbur for a while now; we could see who the better teacher is. M’ sure they would be very excited about it.”

“It’s obviously me, but sure,” Dream laughed smugly. “And then we could have our own duel. I’ve learned quite a few tricks these past millennia.”

“You seem pretty confident for a guy who lost 6-4 in our last duel.”

Dream groaned loudly, “Of all things you’d remember…”

Techno cackled.

It was nice to talk with his friend again after so long, and most of the voices seemed to like Dream already, which was a plus.

Speaking of, he had to know… “Hey, do you hear ‘em too?”

Dream stared at him, tilting his head to the side in confusion. “Hear who? Your friends?”

“No, no,” Techno shook his head, and he already knew the answer before he even clarified. “The voices.”

“The… voices?” Dream repeated, and he nodded. “I— sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Techno. What voices do you hear?”

He sighed. So Dream couldn’t hear them then.

“S’ just voices in my head,” he explained. “I figured they were due to the Minotaur, cause they started after I first died and came back, but if you can’t hear ‘em then they must be something els—”

“Wait, wait, wait! _What?”_ Dream asked suddenly, shocked, and Techno raised an eyebrow confused. “You— Sorry, what? You _died?”_

“Yeah?” he replied bemused. Wasn’t this common ground for them? Weren’t they both immortal men, incapable of staying dead? “You mean you haven’t?”

“I— No? What the fuck, Techno?”

There was a long moment of silence where they just stared at each other, trying to comprehend these revelations. The voices had gone uncharacteristically quiet ever since Techno brought them up, but that only made the silence now more uncomfortable.

A high-pitched shriek from outside followed by Wilbur’s laugh made them flinch, both lost in thought, and Techno sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“So you haven’t died then?” he started. “In all this time, not even once?”

“No,” Dream shook his head, and Techno wondered what kind of expression he had behind the blank smile. “But you have.”

“Yeah.”

It was weird, acknowledging it in front of somebody else. He was used to brushing it off, pretend he hadn’t just died and come back to life, ignore all the pain that came with the process. It was easier that way.

Back when he was still young, after his first death, he had freaked out— hell, how could he _not?_ He remembered being stabbed and cut and kicked and punched by his people before he managed to get far enough away and pass out against a tree, only to wake up hours later as healthy as anyone could be. Not a single scar or bruise where he _knew_ he’d been pierced. If it weren’t for the ragged, bloodstained clothes he’d been wearing, he would have been convinced he’d dreamt the whole thing.

Ultimately he’d decided to not think about it too much. He was alive, that was the important part. He didn’t have the time to think of the hows and whys when he had to focus on how to survive alone in exile. Or, well, as alone as someone who suddenly had a thousand voices in his head could be. At the time, that had been a more pressing matter than his unexpected, mysterious survival.

Then he’d met Phil and the whole thing became only a bad memory that sometimes haunted him in his sleep and nothing more.

That is, until he got himself killed again.

He would never forget Philza’s face when he shoved him out of the way of an incoming attack, sword going through his heart, his own blood spilling everywhere as he tried not to choke on it. He’d thought that was that, that was the moment he died. He’d embraced the darkness then, content with the knowledge that his friend would live on.

But then he blinked awake some time later, his chest burning as both him and Phil, who had been silently mourning him by his side, watched with wide eyes as it sewed itself together, the wound becoming only a patch of irritated skin. The pain had lingered for a while after, but Phil had been there for him all the way.

That was the day he realized he couldn’t die.

Phil and he had talked about it after the initial shock was gone, coming up with theories and ideas as to why he was like this. Any subsequent deaths weren’t talked about, not really acknowledged beyond Phil offering comfort, and it had been a long time since Techno had properly talked about his own immortality.

Dream was still staring at him and Techno shifted uncomfortably. For some reason, the voices always got louder when this subject came up, chants of _Technoblade never dies_ echoing in his head.

“So how— uh, how’d you, y’know…?” the other finally voiced, no louder than a whisper.

“Got stabbed,” he replied, wincing. He didn’t want to mention how their own people had actually been the ones to take his first death, since Techno himself hadn’t even realized it until so much later. He saw Dream grimace from what was visible under the mask. “Uh, Phil helped afterwards though, so it wasn’t that bad.”

Dream nodded, lips curling into a small smile.

“He seems nice,” he offered, and Techno latched onto the change of subject immediately.

“He is. He found me not long after I got exiled and took me under his wing,” he explained, smiling at the memory. He had been but a brat back then, trying his best to not go crazy with everything the universe was throwing at him. The winged man had taken one look at his half-starved body and immediately took him in, much like he had with Wilbur and Tommy in recent years. “Don’t let ‘im fool you, though. The old man knows a thing or two ‘bout fightin’.”

Dream let out a wheezing laughing. “I’ll keep it in mind, if I ever decide to get in a fight with him.”

“Oh, Phil would obliterate you in a second.”

“S’ that so?”

Techno nodded solemnly, managing to keep a straight face for only a few moments before they both dissolved into laughter.

Oh, it was so good to have his childhood friend back.

✿

After Dream left the cabin, off to find his team and do whatever it was he did nowadays, Wilbur and Tommy immediately rushed up to him with questions, Phil not far behind, watching them all with an amused expression.

Techno sighed, having known this would happen. Honestly, right now he just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a decade _at least._ All the talk about emotional stuff made him exhausted. But, he knew, the two boys who insisted on calling themselves his brothers wouldn’t leave him alone until their curiosity was satisfied.

“He’s my childhood friend,” he offered, crashing in the couch.

“You’re _childhood friends_ with _the_ Dream?!” Tommy shrieked while Will was looking at him with wide eyes too. Was Dream really that famous nowadays? He’d only heard of him from the boys before… Huh, he really should start keeping up with this kinda stuff.

He made a humming noise, closing his eyes and resting an arm over them lazily. He tuned out Tommy gushing about how _cool_ it was that his older brother (which Techno _wasn’t)_ had grown up with Dream and whatnot.

He was just about to fall sleep (and didn’t that speak volumes of how confortable he’d gotten around these three that he could nod off with the kid talking his ears off less than ten feet away from him) when Will’s voice cut through the fog in his brain and snapped him awake.

“Why’d he call you Theseus, though?”

Techno winced. He’d been hoping they’d _conveniently_ forgotten about that detail, but alas, Wilbur hadn’t.

“That’s my old name,” he relented, risking a look at the three other people in the room.

Phil was staring at him sadly but he didn’t look surprised by the news. Techno had never told Phil his real name, desperate to escape the pain of his past as the exiled hero at the time, but now he couldn’t help but wonder if the older man had known who he was this entire time and just decided not to bring it up. He must’ve— especially after their visit to Athens.

By his side, Will was looking at him intently, as if trying to figure him out. Techno blinked when something like understanding flashed in the boy’s eyes, because how could _Wilbur,_ who was barely in his twenties, understand _anything_ about him? It just wasn’t— No. Wait. Hold up.

How could he forget, Wilbur was a bit of a history freak. Probably some of the stories of his time as a hero survived till today and Will was just connecting the dots with what he already knew about Technoblade.

Ender, he must be _really_ out of it if it took him this long to figure that out.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the one remaining member of the group. “Well, that’s a terrible name,” Tommy stated, as blunt as ever. “Technoblade sounds way cooler.”

Techno couldn’t help it, he chuckled. Leave it to Tommy to focus on the least important part of the whole conversation.

“Thanks, Tommy,” he replied amused, words a bit muffled as a yawn interrupted him.

There was the sound of clothes rustling as Phil got up and smiled lightly at him. “You should probably go to bed, mate.”

“Yeah, you look dead on your feet, big man!” Tommy agreed, also getting up although considerably more enthusiastic than Phil. “You can tell us more about Dream tomorrow!”

Wilbur nodded along, handing Techno his boar skull as he got up with a heavy sigh. He gave him a quiet thanks and made his way to his room, barely remembering to take off his boots and cape before he crashed on the bed.

Today had been _exhausting_. Worth it, but exhausting nonetheless.

He hummed contemplatively to himself. Maybe he’d get to fight Dream soon, while the man was still in the area. That’d be fun.

With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and slipped out of reality, feeling lighter than he’d had in years.


End file.
